City of Light
by lulub22
Summary: All Human. Rose is taken as a slave to serve under the cruel emperor Dimitri. What starts off rocky slowly turns into something deep and loving.
1. Chapter 1

The burns from the hot sand slowly form into blisters as I am dragged along. My hands are tethered my coarse leather that cuts into my wrists, drawing blood every time I fall behind. The linen covering my eyes is soaked with my sweat, but fortunately keeps the blinding sun out of my eyes. My name is Rose and fourteen days ago my village in Asia Minor was sacked. The scent of burning huts still clings in my nostrils and the image of my father giving the men who are now in possession of me money stings. My father saved himself by selling me into slavery. I should be shocked, but he always was a selfish man.

The sharp sting of leather rubbing against my raw flesh makes me wince and cry out in pain.

"Shut up you worthless slave," yells one of the men. I'd tell you what he looks like but I never saw his face, this blindfold has kept me unaware of my surroundings this whole time. I don't know where I'm going, only that I am to serve under the new emperor who has risen to power. No one form my village knows who he is or what he looks like, only that he is cruel and plays games with human lives.

"We'll rest here for the night," the second of my capturers says. "Give the girl some water; she needs to be alive when we arrive in the city. Arcadia is only one more day's travel."

Arcadia. I repeat the word over and over in my head hoping it sparks some thread of familiarity, but I come up empty. It's obviously a desert city since I've been forced to walk on hot sand for this whole journey. My sandals had broken off the second day of this torture and I've been barefoot ever since.

Despite the man saying it was nightfall, I cannot sleep. Even blindfolded I know it is still day time and I can feel the rising temperature and feel the sun's shinning rays hitting my smooth skin. Finally, however, my exhaustion sets in and I begin to feel myself drift off.

I am awoken by the overwhelming desire to throw up. I lift my head tenderly, immediately regretting doing so. It is then that I realize I am on the back of a camel and the motion is what is making me sick. We must have travel through the day even though we were supposed to be resting because I feel the cool breeze of night. I moan quietly, getting the attention of one of the men.

"Give me more water with sleeping leaves, she is waking up and she needs to be unconscious when we reach the city, the emperor wanted to see all this slaves this way."

They have sleeping drugs! Why did they force me to walk the whole way when they could have just knocked me out and not make me suffer.

Rough hands grab my chin, forcing it up and my mouth open. Hot water is shoved down my throat making me feel tired. The last thing I sense before my world goes black is the smell of burnt flesh. The smell is only associated with one city in the world. The City of Light.


	2. Chapter 2

D POV

People fear me. That's what is most important about this job. I am emperor and if I don't rule my territories with an iron fist my enemies will take it all away. Keeping the power in my family is also important. My whole life my father drilled these two things into me so that even when I am not making a conscious effort to think about them they still lurk in the background. Ruling all of Arcadia was never my dream, it was my father's. But he died and left the burden for me and now I have to, in order to protect my family, or what's left of it. My older sister, Karolina suffered a maternal death; one of my younger sisters, Sonya, supported my father and his corruption and when a conspiracy to kill him formed, she got swept up in it. Only my mom and youngest sister Viktoria are alive, which means I now have to marry Vika. I know its tradition and I do love her, but I love her like a sister because that's what she is. I can't do what is expected of marriage to her; impregnate her, which is vile and twisted. I don't care that I'm the last of the Belikovs, marrying my sister crosses a line I will never break. My sweet sister, who at fifteen should be allowed to get caught up in her crush on one of my guards. She—

"Sir, all those captured from Asia Minor are here. Shall we start the ceremony?"

"Yes. And Christian, make sure you keep my mother and sister away this time. They were horrified by the last one."

I walk out into the silent crowd and face a line of tied and blindfolded people. Their clothes are tattered and they are covered on dirt. Arcadia is a twenty-two mile long oasis in the middle of a desert. It is a hub for neighboring villages, the center of trade, and the center of life. This is my kingdom, and the ceremony I'm about to host is going to show everyone what happens if you don't follow my rules.

To the left of the line of prisoners is a fire pit. Beside the pit stands a boy, maybe ten years old, with a bag over his head and ropes wrapped around his body. I signal the guards restraining the prisoners to remove their blindfolds. They all stare at me and then at the boy who has now been led even closer to the fire pit.

"You are all my prisoners and servants now," I say, looking at each person. "Welcome to the City of Light!" And with that the boy is thrown into the pit. Everyone screams in horror, which is what anyone would expect, but one person, a girl closest to the pit rushes forward to try to save the boy. My guards quickly restrain her and lead her into a hut I use as a jail.

Furious at the girl's audacity I say, "If anyone else moves, you will be thrown into the fire as well." I give one last menacing glare before returning to my bed chamber.

"Open the door." I watch as the girl is dragged out and thrown down at my feet. "Because you care so deeply for this young boy, you can have the honor of cleaning the ropes that were tied around him."

The girl looks up at me with a look of disgust. "He was an innocent boy. What kind of a monster are do you have to be to do something like that?"

"I am the emperor, so I will do as I please. And since you are my slave you will do as I say. Now go clean the ropes."

She staggers up and slowly walks over to the smoking pit. The charred body had been removed and she hesitantly leaned down and pulled the ropes off, careful not to touch the remaining flesh. Dragging the ropes behind her, she started walking to the east.

"You're going the wrong way; the river is to the west."

"Well then since you know everything, my Lord, why don't you show me the way?"

"Of course." I turned on my heel and stalked off. The river that supplies my territory flows upward and empties into a delta on the city's border. "Here, and while you're at it, clean yourself up too." I pace back and forth waiting for her to finish. The sun is beginning to rise and all I want to do right now is sleep, but she is taking her sweet time.

"I'm done."

I turn to look at her and am shocked by how beautiful she is. I clear my throat before saying, "Good. Now come with me slave."

"Rose."

"What?"

"My name is Rose, not slave." She brushes past me and makes her way back to the clearing we first met in. She starts to turn toward the jail hut, but I grab her arm and pull her toward my courtyard.

"You're not going in there, you're coming with me." I don't normally force my slave girls to be intimate with me, but I need to put this one in her place before things get out of hand.


	3. Chapter 3

Rose POV

The last thing I want is to be close to this monster. I can practically feel myself giving off those negative vibes, but if he does, he doesn't show it. He continued walking until he stopped in front of a large red tent that was twice the size of any of the other surrounding tents. He lifted the heavy opening flap and revealed the most exquisite makeshift bedroom I had ever seen. He didn't bother waiting for me to come in on my own volition. He pulled my raw wrist, causing me to scream in pain and pull back. He instantly let go, allowing a flash of sympathy show before neutralizing his face.

I slid onto the floor hugging my sore wrist to my chest, failing to calm the irritated skin. I only looked up when my captor's shadow fell over me. He had a bowl of steaming water and a flannel in his hands. He sat across from me, far enough away that I had space to move, but close enough for our knees to touch.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to hurt you." His hands were calloused, but warm to the touch and despite the fact that I was allowing him to soothe my wrists, I didn't want to acknowledge his presence.

"Who did this to you?"

I looked at him like he had just asked the most ridiculous question ever. "You did."

"I didn't bind your wrists."

"No, not physically, but you ordered your men to, which is you doing it indirectly, so it's the same thing."

He threw the damp flannel into the bowl of water, causing it to spill over the side, and ran a hand through his shoulder length brown hair. If I didn't hate him so much, I would have thought he was attractive, he could have even been a suitor for me. Before the Blood Promise War, that is.

My father, Abe Mazur, was once the ruler of a small city in Asia Minor. We had been wealthy, we had been powerful, but my father put his trust in the wrong people: the Belikov Clan. It was their betrayal of the treaty that forced my father to sell me into slavery. Or so he claims. He said it was the only way to keep a Mazur heir alive, to hide them in plain sight. I failed to see the logic in that, and only knew that I was now not a princess, but a slave. A disposable thing, that hold no value, or worth, to the man I was currently looking at.

"I meant how did you become one of my slaves, what city are you from?"

I hesitated before answering, was this my chance to reveal my true identity and hope that I am granted mercy? Or do I make up a life story fit for a slave." I'm from a small city in Asia Minor, its a northern coastal city. I used to watch the sun set over the Aegean Sea."

"As a kid I would go with my father to that region. We had a treaty with one of the rulers. I would always look forward to spending my summers there. Father always said I was wasting my time spending all day catching fish, but it was fun and I never had to be formal out at sea."

I too used to spend my summers catching fish for fun, but how could he have had the same childhood?

"What is your name? You know mine so it's only fair that I get to know yours."

"Dimitri. Dimitri Belikov."


	4. Chapter 4

Dimitri POV

If there is one thing you should know about me it is that I hated having to pretend like I was my father. Randall Ivashkov, once married Randall Belikov, was a complete terror. The power came from my Mom's side of the family, which is why the Belikov name is something to be revered, not Ivashkov. This may be the reason my father was so cruel to those he employed and ruled over; he must have convinced himself that his power would slip away. That is how my beloved Arcadia turned into the City of Light: a dystopian minefield that smelled of burnt flesh.

Walking back to my tent I had to keep telling myself to maintain the facade. I had no intention of ever laying a hand on Rose. She might think that I am a monster but she doesn't understand, and she might not ever understand. I saw my tent a few yards away and couldn't wait to get behind the safety of the thick fabric and just relax. But as soon as I opened the tent for Rose she just stood there. I pulled on her wrist to urge her inside before anyone saw her resistance, which casue her to howl in pain and slide onto the floor. Without hesitating I got a bowl of warm water and a flannel to try and comfort her. As i got closer to her I could see how raw her wrists were. That made me so mad, but there was nothing I could do, I had instructed the mercenaries to bring in all the slaves, and I learned a long time ago that they do not take orders well. I hadn't told them to be respectful to the slaves, because they would have taken it out on my people. I love my people and they have been through enough with my father that I would never let undue harm come to them, or at least do my best.

I sat down across from Rose, far enough away that we both had space to move, but close enough for our knees to touch.

"I'm sorry," I said, "I didn't mean to hurt you." She acted like she didn't want to acknowledge my presence. It annoyed me, but at least she didn't make a run for it.

"Who did this to you?" I knew the chances of her knowing the mercenary's name were slim but I hoped she would give me some clue.

She looked at me like I had just asked the most ridiculous question ever. "You did."

"I didn't bind your wrists." Now I was just being petty, I knew damn well this was my fault even if I didn't personally do it.

"No, not physically, but you ordered your men to, which is you doing it indirectly, so it's the same thing."

I threw the damp flannel into the bowl of water, causing it to spill over the side, and ran a hand through my hair. Because of the path my father chose to reach this level of power, our current allies are nothing better than low life scum who use force and fear to violate every aspect of daily life. They were the ones who drove my father mad with paranoia, constantly feeding lies to him until one day he coudn't take it was that type of delusional attitude that made him decide to betray our oldest ally, the Mazurs. The Blood War was one of the worst things I have ever had to experience. It was essentially the City of Light magnified.

Wanting to rid my thoughts of the war I tried again, "I meant how did you become one of my slaves, what city are you from?"

I could see her hesitate before answering. "I'm from a small city in Asia Minor, its a northern coastal city. I used to watch the sun set over the Aegean Sea."

A spark of familiarity caused me to wonder if we had, at some point in our lives crossed paths. "As a kid I would go with my father to that region. We had a treaty with one of the rulers." I looked at her out of the corner of my eye to gage her reaction, " I would always look forward to spending my summers there. Father always said I was wasting my time spending all day catching fish, but it was fun and I never had to be formal out at sea."

She turned so her shoulders squarely faced me and said, "What is your name? You know mine so it's only fair that I get to know yours."

"Dimitri. Dimitri Belikov." As soon as the words came out of my mouth she stood up so fast that she almost tripped as she staggered away from me.

"No! You can't be, I , I know Dimitri. He is nothing like you! He was kind to me as a child not a monster like you who kills children."

I slowly stood up, trying to not cause her to bolt, "I didn't kill anyone."

"The boy from earlier, he was pushed into a fire, I cleaned his bloody ropes!"

"I can assure you that Paul is alive and well."

"What?" She started moving toward the tent opening, making me think she was going to leave, but I realized she only wanted to sit on one of the ornate pillows that filled my temporary home.

"I can't explain it to you, you won't understand, but my nephew is safe inside the castle with my mother and sister."

"What did I see then? Who died?"

"Paul likes magic, it was an illusion. AN illusion to keep up this facade that I'm just as bad as my father."


	5. Chapter 5

"How exactly do you fake a death?" There is no way Dimitri is telling me the truth. All I could think about was how kind hearted the Dimitri I knew was. When we were kids he never treated me like a child, despite the fact that he was six years older than me and would have had every right as both an elder and a man to do so. I had taken such a liking to him that when when I was younger, once he returned home, I would pretend we were engaged to be married. I would prance around in a puffy, satin dress and tell all of my toys how lucky I was to be Princess Belikova.

"I can take you to Paul and you can ask him yourself. But for now you should get some rest, and eat, it's been a long day and I don't want put any more stress on you." He got up and moved the bowl of water onto a side table out of the way.

For someone who is the ruler of a city I would have thought his housing situation would be better, stable even. Why is it that an emperor lives in a tent when a perfectly good castle lay a few hundred feet behind us?

"Which tent does Paul sleep in. I can just go by myself, I don't need an escort. In case you haven't noticed I am no longer a Lady of any sort of royal standing."

"Paul doesn't sleep in a tent. He stays in the castle with my mother and sisters." He showed no emotion when he commented on his housing, but a normal person would have to be bothered by the fact that he is sleeping on the ground, while his family is sleeping in a bed.

"Why don't you stay there as well all mighty one? That comment earned me a glare, but he turned his gaze to a platter of food before he answered me. Picking up the platter and two cups of wine he said, "It is not what my people want."

I waited for him to elaborate on his own, but he just sat down and idly picked at the various cheeses that were cut into tiny cubes. "And by that you mean what? They don't want you as emperor? Or they all want to sleep in tents like nomads as well?"

"You wouldn't understand Roza. You don't know how horrible my father was, to my people and to us. Blood War, though to me I feel like it was more of a Blood Promise, ruined this city. Arcadia was my home, my sanctuary. And now all it is associated with is death. Do you think anyone remembers the Sun and Moon festival; do you think they remember running through the wheat fields as children chasing away the chickens that for some reason were all named Nute? No. They remember war, pain, and destruction. That is what I had to come into power with, that deep distrust of power and authority. I have had to fight my way through the walls my people put up, just to show them that I am not my father. They still don't let me reside with the city walls. So that, Roza, is why I don't sleep in the castle with my family. Because I respect my people and I would lay down my life for theirs and for their rights."

I could see Dimitri struggle to catch his breath, and all I could think to do was comfort him. I tentatively got up and hugged him. He was stiff in my arms for a while before he finally breathed out. " You still smell the way I remember you. Citrus was always a scent that brought me back to better times. Summer where the days were longer and the nights were warmer. I would watch you walk down the coast every morning before you were forced to eat breakfast." He chuckled lightly before loosening his grip on me.

"If it makes you feel any better my father is the reason why I'm a slave, so I guess we're even in that department. He thought hiding in plain sight was the best idea ever." I was still clutching his shirt as his eyes roamed over me, processing what I just said.

"You will never be a slave to me. You will always be a princess. And I don't want you to worry about being treated as a slave. For the time being you will, but only when my fathers men are around. Which will not be often because I want you to stay in this tent. You'll be safe here."

"You aren't suggesting that I am now your concubine are you?" Even if the old Dimitri was starting to show I still didn't know the man in front of me. My childhood crush was just that, since I had to marry up and Dimitri had not been betrothed to me when I was born. I had no idea who I would eventually marry, so I wasn't allowed to get close to any men in my life.

"I need you to be safe. I won't touch you in any improper way I swear, I care only for your well being. The men outside will rape you the first chance they get, and I would never forgive myself if that happened to you."

I could tell by his tone that he was sincere, but I did not want to be cooped up. "How long do I have to stay in here?"

" My most trusted advisors Eddie, Mason, and Christian are helping me plan my next move. Once that is over, you will be safe. Until then please do as I say."

"And what exactly is your next move?"

"I'm going to invade Russia and reinstall my mother as the monarch. My father allowed the Belikovas to be chased out, but I will make sure their power and authority is rightfully restored."


End file.
